SeanBest,
In response to your question about customisable icons....
There is an app called Magicons available in Synaptic Package Manager which provides a few sets of icons which can be customised.
There are some extra icon sets available on
http://www.gnome-look.org - just type magicons in the search box.
This app is very easy to use,just takes a bit of practice.
Another option is the Any Colour You Like icons from
http://www.gnome-look.org again it provides icon sets which can be customised with colour and gradients.The menu for customisation is accessed using a simple bash script which is available on the download page.(If you have any trouble finding the bash script,post back and I'll post it on here)
This is,perhaps,a little trickier,but again gets easier with a bit of practice.
Hope that helps.